Until recently, due to acquisition reform (AR) changes, quality
requirements applied during acquisition generally followed Military
Specification MIL-Q-9858, Quality Program Requirements. MIL-Q-9858 was the
basic standard for planning quality programs for DoD development and
production contracts. Under AR, MIL-Q-9858A was cancelled by Notice 2 dated
October 1996. As with other canceled military documents, there is no barrier
to a system developer, or contractor, using MIL-Q-9858A as a basis for a
quality program, or quality system.

Prior to its cancellation, MIL-Q-9858A, Amendment 3, dated 5
September 1995 stated that for new designs, the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) 9001, ISO 9002 quality system standards, the ANSI/ASQC
Q9001, ANSI/ASQC Q9002 quality system standards, or a comparable higher-level
non-government quality system should be used. The ANSI/ASQC Q9000 series
documents are the technical equivalent to the ISO 9000 series
documents.